Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Nancy Babbitt <nbabbitt2003@mac.com>]

Paul,

Yes, especially here in the north, where nothing grows in the winter  
- we'd have to exist on stored root vegetables and winter squash and  
apples and pears as long as they held out, if we didn't preserve in  
some way - canning, drying, lacto-fermenting, salting, smoking, root  
cellaring.  So I agree that eating in season is not just what is  
growing locally at that moment, but what is locally available in your  
area at that moment.  But for us northerners trying to eat local,  
knowing what you can cook up using pumpkin, other than pumpkin pie  
and pumpkin bread, is a good thing to know, as is a variety of  
recipes for apples, pears, potatoes and the like.  (So many young  
people just don't know how to cook!)

Canning, unless you are firing up a source of wood heat, consumes a  
great deal of fuel, most likely fossil fuel.  Although I suspect home  
canning uses less fuel than the food that has been canned and  
transported thousands of miles.  I began pressure canning this year,  
see it as a necessary if I want to eat strictly local and homegrown  
veggies.  I do not wish to keep a freezer for things that can well.   
Again, it's energy consumption, and a power failure can cause me to  
lose my food.  So, canning certainly has it's benefits.

I've heard that Hubbard squash is becoming rare.  That's too bad.  I  
view it as a very valuable vegetable.  They will stay fresh  
(unspoiled) until spring.  I have kept some into March/April.  Now  
that's a good long time for something not canned, or frozen.

Nancy


On Oct 1, 2006, at 11:42 PM, TradingPostPaul wrote:

> Good work. Those suggestions always welcome, Nancy. One item caught  
> my eye,
> the one about local growers offering things you can't find in the
> supermarket. We got some Sugar Loaf Delicata squash up the road,  
> and then
> looked for it while out grocery shopping today. Trader Joe's didn't  
> have
> any, nor Sunflower Market that had a very wide range of produce.
> http://www.sfmarkets.com/ and of course the major chains aren't  
> even worth
> checking.
>
> That said, we might question what is and is not seasonal. We  
> realize that
> shipping fresh fruit 2,000 miles for Xmas is a real stretch -  
> inherently
> unsustainable. But when we put up preserves or store winter squash for
> January, is that wrong because it's eaten out of season? Surely  
> not. I'd
> argue that locally grown and preserved produce is always in season.
> Likewise, the bolita beans we just got from the farm up the road  
> will be in
> season as long as it takes to go through the bag. I don't think  
> seasonal
> means having to eat stuff only when it's naturally harvested in the
> locality. Properly understood, seasonal eating shouldn't be so hard to
> learn.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
> On 10/1/2006 at 3:35 PM Nancy Babbitt wrote:
>
> > Ah, yes.  Eat local & in season.  It's one thing to know that we
> > SHOULD eat this way, and quite another to learn how.  Not until more
> > people know how, will they actually be able to do it.
> >
> > I purchased a new cookbook, Simply in Season is the title.
> >
> > Simply in Season features eating and using local, seasonal foods like
> > our grandparents did in wholesome, delicious dishes. Today most
> > people make no connection with the time of year and season to place
> > or location of food. And, unfortunately, if they wanted to, most
> > wouldn't know how. Through stories and simple whole food recipes,
> > Simply in Season, helps to make these connections.
> >
> > Six reasons to eat simply in season
> >
> > Freshness - Locally grown fruits and vegetables are usually harvested
> > the same day as they are purchased. Produce from across the country
> > can't be that fresh.
> >
> > Taste - Produce picked and eaten at the height of freshness has more
> > flavor. Taste the difference.
> >
> > Nutrition - Fresh, fully ripe produce contains more nutrients than
> > food that is past its peak of freshness or was harvested before it
> > ripened fully.
> >
> > Variety - Farmers selling locally are not limited to the few
> > varieties that are bred for long distance shipping, high yields, and
> > shelf life. Often they raise and sell wonderful unusual varieties you
> > will never find on supermarket shelves.
> >
> > Environment - The environmental impacts of growing and shipping
> > produce, sometimes halfway around the world, are enormous.
> >
> > Local Health - Buying seasonal produce from your farmers' market or
> > from neighborhood farms supports your local economy, increasing the
> > local quality of life for everyone.
> >
> > I'd love to know of other such books.  Another favorite cookbook of
> > mine is More With Less cookbook.  It has many recipes from scratch,
> > from simple ingredients - a skill that many young people do not have,
> > and could benefit from.  We'd all benefit.
> >
> > Simply in Season is a cookbook that, in my opinion, all small farmers
> > should offer for sale to their customers along with their produce.
> > The Weston A Price Foundation (westonaprice.org) promotes  a
> > Traditional diet, which includes the concept of eating locally and  
> > in-
> > season.  Some might be interested in this organization.
> >
> > Forgive me, if these suggestions have already been posted, I do not
> > have enough free time to read all posts that come through.
> >
> > Nancy
>
>
>
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